manc-mag

I seem to remember Tranmere had a long throw 'specialist' back in the day and as Prenton Park was so cramped he'd run down the steps of the main stand when the throw in was vaguely level with the gangways. Anyway absolutely delighted at our attitude towards the towels. If you're going to try and reduce the game to a catapult contest expect people who care about football to do anything within their power to fuck you over.

Think it don't matter what our results are against the top 2 (they will beat more or less everyone this year). What will make or break our season given that our results against average and weak sides continues is our results against Arsenal, Liv and Spurs...Those games for me are the key indicators. Did you know that Man U did not win a single away game against top half opposition last season? Yet still won the league. I make this point (in a roundabout way) quite often about Man U and it can't be underestimated tbh. They will go away and lose at places like Liverpool etc and while the Scousers are there celebrating winning their cup final Ferguson simply won't bat an eyelid at it. He knows Man U will go on and beat the sides (the inferior/'easy' sides) that Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea etc will piss points away to and he picks up the league trophy at the end of the season. The importance of this applies equally to our start to the season. We've played several 'easy' sides but we would routinely piss points away to them/roll over and die in normal circumstances. This season we haven't-we've ground out results, employed gameplans, started with the mindset of not conceding goals, been cynical when necessary (towels) and had a 'never know when we're beaten' mentality and it deserves some fucking credit. As I say, the fact this is our best top flight result sequence in 60 years is an absolute disgrace and does put into perspective why we've never won owt. You can spend truckloads of money but you'll never see the best from that investment unless you've got those basic rudiments in place. I hope to fuck theres just even a moderate amount of investment this winter because it could make a real difference and more to the point this team actually deserves strengthening, the way they're wanting to play for the shirt. Just get half a fucking twitch in your pants, please Mike because this is what it's about. Your coaching staff are showing that even just a few quid is likely to be well deployed so lets treat January as the opportunity to keep pushing forwards, not backwards!!

Right fuck it, it's November. Best Christmas song ever.

"Rubber burns? I thought he was a Scottish poet."

It doesn't really matter tbh because those constantly referring to an 'easy start' are basically peddling an agenda which is based on a false premise, namely "everyone who expresses happiness at our the start to the season are deluded morons who think we're on for a CL finish and are forming an orderly queue to bum Mike Ashley into ecstasy". It's simply not the case at all - everyone accepts we've had a relatively favourable start by the fixture generator, and have expressed their positiveness in genuinely measured tones. What is irrefutably cause for credit however (and enjoyment) is that you can only beat the teams that are put in front of you, and Newcastle United teams as a rule will absolutely make it their business to lose to many of the 'inferior' teams in that starting sequence given the opportunity. The fact its our best league sequence in a decade or more (whatever the statistic is) is an absolute disgrace and a sobering reminder about why we don't win anything as a club. We haven't rolled over, we've dug in and got some decent results. Fucking enjoy it for what it is for fucks sake.

Great post by a Man Utd fan here, agree with every word, and I'll also say that our relative success in the mid 90's and early 00's was entirely funded by our business, our fanbase and our hard work. Man City are the scum of football, in so many ways. What a load of moaning, sanctimonious, steaming pile of shite from that Man U kid! Every successful club in its past has had its backers, and if a Man U fan thinks Man U haven't bought or tried to buy titles he's in fucking cloud cuckoo land. They spent 26 years trying to do it but never managed it. Ah! but it was their own generated money! Was it? At a time when there was no money in the game Man U didn't do too badly for backers, Liverpool had the pools dynasty on their board and a few managers who built steady, year in, year out. I tell you what, you think Man U would've respected us had we won the title? No, we would,ve bought the title too. Sugar Daddy Hall would've bought it for us, (according to them). If Man U are so fucking massive and generate their own wealth which is true NOW, then its been made when great wealth has went to clubs in the right place, at the right time. You could just as easy say to a Man U fan, that they had built a decent side in the late fifties but owe their universal appeal to a tragic plane crash when football supporters weren't so partisan. Do I like Man City's leap through Arab money? No, course not, same as Chelsea. But to hear moaning from these cunts is music to my ears. And he's talking out of his arse about Leeds. Leeds are not as big as Man City. Aye same here. There is no arrogance in world football to rival the arrogance of Man U fans. It is all to do with being the country's media darlings for the last half century and it is the very epitome of a divine-right mentality. City are spending money that has absolutely nowt to do with the club's own natural resource base, but so fucking what-that's an issue for all of modern football, not just Man U. On the other hand, City haven't had a completely-free-of -charge national media PR machine for the last 50 years as Man U have. "United" this, "United" that, no wonder Man U can afford to spend more 'within their own means' if every five year old in the country is wanting a Man U home and away shirt every season because they don't even hear "United" are from Manchester. To those kids, "United" are the the de facto national team. The comment about it not meaning the same to City fans if/when they win something 'compared to them' is the most deluded/arrogant statement of all though. If City won the title, in terms of what it means to their fans it'll eclipse any enjoyment Man U have derived from a title since '93-and they know that fine well which is precisely why they're trying to come out with that shite as early as now. Anyway to be fair today, to keep it in it's proper context Man C just had the better players and were scoring 5-a-side goals and it was hilarious to watch OT emptying in humiliation as they need a dose of humility. Man U should still be favourites for the league though as Fergie doesn't worry at all about losing games like this or Liverpool?Chelsea etc etc, he knows over a season Man U will beat the inferior teams that Man C are more than capable of not turning up against, so it's just a case of enjoying it for what it is, and that was a good old fashioned dry bumming in their own back yard.

I don't care about Man Utd, I just hate what Man City are, they've become the most despicable club in football. They represent all the ills of the world. Would've been a draw if stupid fucking Evans wasn't shite. Nah, that's Man U man. Fucking loved that today-they were actually 5 goals better than them too so it wasn't even flattering. Mint. Silva is the best footballer in the Prem, they were terrified to go anywhere within 10 yards of him when he was in possession he's that good. Absolutely no answer to it.

Speaking of signatures Deaders, can I be the first to applaud you on your ping? Your line attenuation was impressive enough on it's own.

Leazes, the thing is you're genuinely too dense to do the financial debate (I'm sorry but that's just the truth of it) and the rest of your rhetoric can honestly be condensed to one line and only needs to be said once. So stop repeating it by the multi-paragraph.

Thats about it isnt, it, not exciting but reasonable. I dont have any qualms admitting its a bit of a come down from the ambition we've seen before. The reasons why are intricate and complicated and cant be boiled down to anything concrete without looking at complex financial and economic trends. I've challenged people on here to say what MA's real strategy is before (if its not what is in the mission statement) and its never been clear to me which is the alternative version. Seems to me we are doing what he says he wants to do. Now, it might be not what we want but at least he has said this is how its going to work. At the end of the day, his mission is to protect a £200 odd million acquisition, S&H's mission was to speculate with a £2 million acquisition. So obviously the exposure doesn't bear comparison, neither does the respective financing options available. I wish to fuck this debate would move on, it's been close to doing so once or twice when you've hit your stride but it always gets dragged back into the mire eventually. We're 4th for fucks sake, nobody thinks we'll be there at the end of the season, but people are entitled to be positive about some of the changes made. At the same time, as Alex says, and I agree, there's a 'happy medium' (ie even a tiny bit more strategic investment) could really push us on again and it is wrong from a footballing point of view when that doesn't happen. Not into CL as that is now essentially a fantasy league for leveraged speculators/liquid billionaire hobbyists, but we're still in a position where it could get us a few places higher.

Other way around-it's a reflex thing dictators have, much like chickens.

Then their plate making industry would go to the wall over night. You've got to think these things through, Pud.

Always wondered why you had those bulging eyes tbh.

Not so very different to the Olympic 2012 final tbh.

You can't buff a turd.

Congrats, Bridge!

I might as well not bother ffs

That photo especially has been around the internet so many times.... still amazing and never gets old though. Need to watch Hall Pass, tbh. Complete your research on her. Like a young Burt Reynolds - stunning!

Stevie, has your mobile phone got a hypnosis app?

It's also worth looking at against the usual list of priorities/challenges a promoted club faces. ie: First season back: just make sure you stay up Second season back: just make sure you stay up again (as you're no longer the 'surprise package' and all of the other teams have sussed out how you play). Well we play differently to our first season, so we weren't going to get found out on that score.

As soon as Colo and Taylor get fucked? Anyone losing both their first choice centre halves simultaneously are going to be in the shit tbh.

Glad it's been upgraded from: not quite 'over the line'

*ring ring* "Jesus, what are you doing back? We're erm...we're all off to Cyprus this week"

*knock knock* "Jesus, what's he doing here? What the fuck do we tell him?" "Tell him you're going to Uganda!"